27 Quoted in Romano, Giuseppe Volpi, industria e finanza tra Giolitti e Mussolini, 221.
28 Pollard, Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy, 105, 171.
29 See Report on Internationale Unfall & Schadensversicherungs Ges A.G. from GEA Branch, NARA, Exhibits 6–12, 18, 26A, 30–31; Confidential Memo from the American Embassy in Rome to the Secretary of State, March 19, 1945, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA; Tom Weiss, interviewed by Brendan Howley, November 13, 2005.
30 Joseph B. Treaster, “Holocaust Survivors’ Insurance Ordeal,” The New York Times, April 8, 2003, 8.
31 Authers and Wolffe, The Victim’s Fortune, 109. Morpurgo sent his agents throughout Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Pale of Settlement, an enormous region Russia set aside in the eighteenth century in which Jews were allowed to live and work. The Pale of Settlement comprised about 20 percent of western Russia and what is today most of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.
32 Franz Kafka worked in Generali’s Prague office for nine months. According to company records, he left because of a “nervous ailment.”
33 Belth, “Life Insurance and the Holocaust,” 90.
34 Christopher Kobrak and Per H. Hansen, eds., European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 1920–1945 (New York: Berghahn, 2004), 43.
35 Ibid., 42. Generali accounted for 8 percent of Italy’s GDP. In comparison, in 2013, ExxonMobil had revenues of $500 billion, but accounted only for .03 percent of U.S. GDP.
36 German insurance companies instituted a “risk supplement” that increased life insurance premiums between 20 percent and 30 percent. Still, the longer the war continued it took a heavy toll on insurers. For instance, during 1942, Allianz, the largest German insurer, had 17,537 policyholders killed in combat, resulting in payouts of 40.3 million reichsmarks. The battle of Stalingrad meant that in the first three months of 1943, another twenty thousand policyholders were dead, costing the insurer another 50 million reichsmarks.
37 Feldman, Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 347.
38 Kobrak and Hansen, European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 51–52.
39 Kurt Schmitt to Giuseppe Volpi, Action Note (Aktennote), September 24, 1938; and Volpi to Schmitt, September 27, 1938, FHA, MR A 1/2; Kobrak and Hansen, European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 51; see also Stefan Karlen, Lucas Chocomeli, Kristin D’haemer, Stefan Laube, and Daniel C. Schmid, “Schweizerische Versicherungsgesellschaften im Machtbereich des Dritten Reich” (Swiss insurance companies in the area governed by the Third Reich), Independent Commission of Experts, ICE, Vol. 12 (Zürich: Pendo Verlag GmbH, 2002).
40 Elimination of German Resources for War, Vols. 1–9, U.S. Congress, Hearings Before the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, 79th Congress, 2nd Session, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945), 381. There are additional volumes of documents and testimony printed from these hearings under the same general title, but it is in the book published as Volumes 1–9 covering German and Italian insurance companies.
41 Memorandum re Assicurazioni Generali, Rome, August 17, 1945, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA; Elimination of German Resources for War, Senate Military Affairs Subcommittee on War Mobilization,1945, RG 226, Files 184–212, 222–230. The template Volpi used to gain a share of the business was the 1936 collapse of Europe’s third largest insurer, Austria’s Jewish-owned Phönix Life. There a consortium of Germany’s Munich Re, Austria’s Städtische, and Italy’s Generali divided the spoils. Records of the German External Assets Branch of the U.S. Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945–1950, Società Anonima Di Assicurazioni “Acciai Alpine,” Milan, Italy, General Records series, publication Microfilm Series M1928, File 2-203, Roll 0095, catalogue identification 1561456, NARA; see also Aktennote Kissakalt, September 17, 1935, Archives of Munich Reinsurance Company, A 2.13/46, Munich.
42 Nogara was familiar with shell companies from his work in Constantinople. There he had formed his first in 1913 in order to bypass a Turkish ban on foreigners bidding for development rights in an ambitious coastal development. See Webster, Industrial Imperialism in Italy, 262.
43 See generally Kobrak and Hansen, European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 55.
44 Munich Re (Münchener Rück) is used in the insurance industry to refer to Munich Reinsurance Company (Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG). Munich Re and RWM, September 28, 1939, A. 2.14/55, Center for Corporate History of Allianz, historical archives of the Munich Reinsurance Company, Munich; Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, Appendix II, “German and Italian Insurance Companies known to have been operating in German Occupied and Allied Countries,” RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651, 3, NARA.
45 See Feldman, Allianz and the German Insurance Business, 321, 321n, Aktennote Kurt Schmitt, May 12, 1941; see Stefan Karlen et al., “Schweizerische Vericherungsgesellschaften im Machtbereich des ‘Dritten Reichs’ ” (2002).
46 See Italian Foreign Ministry files generally for Volpi’s efforts to keep the Germans from getting any business in Croatia; Trifković, “Rivalry Between Germany and Italy in Croatia, 1942–1943,” 879–904; R. A. H. Robinson, The English Historical Review 101, no. 398 (January 1986): 303.
47 Richard J. Overy, “The Economy of the German ‘New Order,’ ” ed., Richard J. Overy, Gerhard Otto, and Johannes Houwink ten Cate, Die “Neuordnung” Europas. NS-Wirtschaftspolitik in den besetzten Gebieten (Berlin: Metropol, 1997), 11–26; Harm G. Schröter, Außenpolitik und Wirtschaftsinteresse: Skandinavien im außenwirtschaftlichen Kalkūl Deutschlands und Großbritanniens, 1918–1939 (Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 1983), 15–19, available at Columbia University Collection, New York; see generally Alice Teichova, “Instruments of Economic Control and Exploitation: The German Occupation of Bohemia and Moravia,” in Richard J. Overy, G. Otto and Johannes Houwink ten Cate, Die ‘Neuordnung’ Europas: NS-Wirtschaftspolitik in den besetzten Gebieten (Berlin: Metropol, 1997), 83–107.
48 Report to Arnoldo Frigessi, January 21, 1941, papers of Arnoldo Frigessi di Rattalma, Banca Commerciale Archives, Milan, Cart. 108, fasc. 3; see also Kobrak and Hansen, European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 56.
49 Protocol of Meetings, September 20–21, 1942, and appended documents, FHA, MR, C/210; see also Kobrak and Hansen, European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 58–59. Volpi was also active in Croatia extending his electrical utility conglomerate, SADE, eventually providing half the country’s power during the war.
50 Report on Internationale Unfall & Schadensversicherungs Ges A.G. from GEA Branch, Records of the German External Assets Branch of the U.S. Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945–1950, Reports on Businesses, compiled 1945–1950, see particularly report “Preliminary Report on Internationale Unfall & Schadensversicherungs-Gesellschaft A.G., September 5, 1947,” RG 260, M1928, 49B, Roll 0017, NARA.
51 Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651,13–14, NARA.
52 Volpi tried to evade the U.S. ban by trading real estate in Italy for blocked funds in the U.S. See RG 131, Box 26, Folder 230/38/10/5; and Louis Pink, Superintendent of Insurance, New York State, to John Pehle, Assistant to the Secretary, Treasury Department, July 22, 1941, RG 131, NN3-131-94-002, Box 15, Folder 48B, 230/8/3414, NARA; see telex from J. W. Pehle to Herbert Kimball, October 28, 1942, RG 131, NN3-131-94-002, Box 15, Docket Files of 1940/60, Bis Enterprises, Folder 48/A, 230/38/34/4, NARA.
53 See for instance the shares owned in Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà, an investment that Nogara duplicated across all top-shelf Italian insurance companies. Report on Internationale Unfall & Schadensversicherungs Ges A.G. from GEA Branch, Records of the German External Assets Branch of the U.S. Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 19
45–1950, Reports on Businesses, compiled 1945–1950, RG 260, M1928, 49B, Roll 0017, Exhibit 4, NARA.
54 Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 115, citing a file summarizing foreign insurance company operations in Italy, Entry 196, Box 16, File 30, RG 226, location 190/10/9/5, NARA.
55 Nogara purchased controlling shares in both Fondiaria Vita (the life insurance branch) and Fondiaria Infortuni (accident insurance). This information is contained as part of the so-called Safehaven Report, at the National Archives. During World War II, the U.S. tried to persuade neutral countries to seize German assets deposited in their countries. See Donald P. Steury, “The OSS and Project Safehaven,” CIA, at https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/summer00/art04.html. The effort was code-named Operation Safehaven. This information about Fondiaria and the Vatican is from the Safehaven Report, April 1, 1945, Entry 210, Box 337, RG 226, Location 250/64/28/1, NARA. The Safehaven probe of all Italian insurance firms is April 1945, COI/OSS Central Files, Entry 92, Box 502, File 8, RG 226, Location 190/6/1/4, NARA.
56 Nogara was a director of the Istituto di Credito Fondiario, so even without help from Volpi, he may have been able to get the advance scoop.
57 Webster, “The Political and Industrial Strategies of a Mixed Investment Bank,” 356.
58 Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 115.
59 U.S. Treasury Department, “Documents Pertaining to Foreign Funds Control,” Washington, March 30, 1943, 23–24, Papers of Bernard Bernstein, Subject File, Box 23, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO; see Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 111–20.
60 Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 126ff, 132.
61 Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651,10–13, NARA. One of the most comprehensive intelligence overviews of German and Italian insurers and their interrelationships is Memo, Saint JJI to Saint BB, Response to Questionnaire by Reinhard Karl Wilhelm Reme, October 25, 1945, Washington Registry SI Intel Field Files, records of the Office of Strategic Services, RG 226, Box 214, NND 897108, Entry 108A, NARA.
62 Confidential Memo, No. 2236, Subject: Status of Assicurazioni Generali, September 11, 1945, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA.
63 Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, Appendix II, “German and Italian Insurance Companies known to have been operating in German Occupied and Allied Countries,” RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651, 3, NARA.
64 Memo, Saint JJI to Saint BB, Response to Questionnaire by Reinhard Karl Wilhelm Reme, October 25, 1945, Washington Registry SI Intel Field Files, records of the Office of Strategic Services, RG 226, Box 214, NND 897108, Entry 108A, NARA, 16. Also, Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, Appendix II, “German and Italian Insurance Companies known to have been operating in German Occupied and Allied Countries,” RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651, 5–6, NARA; see also in the same document and file, Appendix 3, one page, “The distribution of foreign business of German Insurance Companies.”
65 Without Albula, the Germans could not have obtained Swiss francs, the currency demanded by the selling company, Dorna Vatra. See Ibid., Memo, Saint JJI to Saint BB, NARA, 8–10.
66 From Vincent La Vista to Herbert J. Cummings, Subject: SAFEHAVEN Italian Insurance Companies, October 24, 1945, Record Group 84, PRFSP State Department, Rome Embassy and Consulate, Confidential Files, 1946, 851 A.C. Finance, Section 851.5, Box 11; also Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651; and Memorandum, untitled, August 17, 1945, Rome, State Department, NARA.
67 See memorandum regarding reinsurance in Chile, to the Foreign Funds Control, U.S. Treasury, February 23, 1942, RG 131, NN3-131-94-002, Box 15, Folder 48B, 230/8/3414, NARA; see generally list of companies involved, in part, M1928, “Records of the German External Assets Branch of the U.S. Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945–1950, part of RG 260, 2003, NARA.
68 “Copy for US Embassy,” Board of Trade, Secret, January 24, 1945, RG 84, File 850.6, 851, Box 272, NARA.
69 Memo, for the Ambassador, August 29, 1945, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA; see also “The Export of Insurance, Business and Finance Section,” The Economist, August 25, 1945, 24.
70 Confidential Memo, No. 2236, Subject: Status of Assicurazioni Generali, September 11, 1945, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA.
71 Report of Finance Sub-Commission, HQ AC for February, 1945, from Headquarters of the Allied Commission, APC 394, March 10, 1945, RG 59, Foreign Service Post, Rome Embassy and Consulate, General Records, 1945, Box 861, 850.9.851, NARA; see also “Italians Take $480,000,000 from the U.S.,” New York Post, May 3, 1941.
72 See generally Annual Statement of The Generali Insurance Company, United States Branch, 1940, RG 131, Box 15, folder 48B, setting forth reinsurance dealings between Generali and some blacklisted firms; see also Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 116–17.
73 For a straight listing of their status in fascist Italy, see “Who’s Who in Fascist Italy,” Confidential memorandum, December 26, 1942, RG 226, E179, Box 4, NARA.
74 Insurance, Confidential, Series 24932, RG 131, NN3-131-94-002, Box 15, Folder 48B, 230/8/3414, NARA.
75 See generally Ranking Officials, Assicurazioni Generali, Record Group 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA.
76 Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 108.
77 Memo to S. S. Gilbert and S. Klotz, June 22, 1942, RG 131, NN3-131-94-002, Box 15, Folder 48B, 230/38/34/4, NARA.
78 Memorandum for the Files, 1942, recounting a July 25, 1942, meeting, NND 968123, NARA.
79 Gold was a favorite way Germans and Italians circumvented currency restrictions: Switzerland and Gold Transactions in the Second World War (Die Schweiz und die Goldtransaktionen im Zweiten Weltkrieg), The Independent Commission of Experts, Switzerland: World War II, Vol. 16.
80 RG 84, Safehaven Files, Banca della Svizzera Italiana, memo from managing director to United States consul in Berne, March 30, 1943, Entry 323, Box 6, NARA.
81 See generally Authers and Wolffe, The Victim’s Fortune.
82 “Life Insurance and the Holocaust,” 81–100; Becker to Bernstein, November 27, 1946, RG 260, OMGUS, Finance, Box 60, 17/60/10, NARA. In Germany, the insurance companies became partners with the Third Reich. The Reichsbank took 75 percent of the profits from policies in return for cloaking the source of the money.
83 Author interview with Elan Steinberg, April 2, 2006; Interagency Task Force on Nazi Assets Directed by Under Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat: U.S. Department of State, “U.S. and Allied Efforts to Recover and Restore Gold and Other Assets Stolen or Hidden by Germany During World War II: Preliminary Study” (1997); see also Authers and Wolffe, The Victim’s Fortune. As for the figure of $200 billion, that is from Professor Joseph Belth, Insurance Forum 25, no. 9 (September 1998), who calculated that half of those who died in the Holocaust owned life insurance and that the average policy was for several thousand dollars. In 2004, the Holocaust Insurance Claims Research Project reached the same conclusion that previous estimates of restitution had not included property insurance claims and unclaimed bank accounts. See Sidney Zabludoff, “Restitution of Holocaust-Era Assets: Promises and Reality,” Jewish Political Studies Review, March 1, 2007; see also Reports on Archival Research, The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, April, August and October 2004.
84 Becker to Bernstein, November 27, 1946, RG 260, OMGUS, Finance, Box 60, 17/60/10, NARA.
85 Author interview with Elan Steinberg, April 2, 2006; see generally “Subject
to Questionnaire by Reinhard Karl Wilhelm Reme,” October 25, 1945, Washington, records of the Office of Strategic Services, RG 226, Box 214, NND 897108, Entry 108A, 16-17, 24, NARA. See also Belth, “The Insurance Forum,” 82.
86 Letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, to Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, March 20, 2013, in the Gerald Posner collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University. Professor Gerald Steinacher notes that “[t]he Vatican remains the only European state that withholds free access to its archives to contemporary historians.” Gerald Steinacher, Nazis on the Run: How Hitler’s Henchmen Fled Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), Kindle edition, 2342 of 9472.
87 From Vincent La Vista to Herbert J. Cummings, Subject: SAFEHAVEN Italian Insurance Companies, October 24, 1945, Record Group 84, PRFSP State Department, Rome Embassy and Consulate, Confidential Files, 1946, 851 A.C. Finance, Section 851.5, Box 11, NARA.
88 Economic Advisory Branch report, undated, Property Control, German Intelligence and Investments 1945–50, RG 260, Records Property Division, Box 651,13–14, NARA. In Croatia, for instance, Mussolini was not long out of office when a new law created the Croatian Reinsurance Company of Zagreb, which redirected almost all the insurance work that had been the province of the Italian and German Croat companies.
89 Ranking Officials, Assicurazioni Generali, RG 59, Department of State, Rome Embassy, File 851, Box 161, NARA.
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